Hillsdale volleyball runs record to 4-0

“We’ve got lots of depth,” Crump said. “And the team chemistry is awesome for a team that’s rebuilding.”

Hillsdale (4-0 overall) has a trio of dynamo sophomores, all of who played as varsity freshmen last year. This season, Crump has brought aboard three more freshmen who are apparently just as dynamo as last year’s trio.

With sophomore Audrey Gilbert, and freshmen Victoria Vanos and Jessica Dean each scoring double-digit kills Tuesday, the Lady Knights won their fourth straight to start the year with a 25-23, 25-19, 25-27, 27-25 win at home over Gunn-Palo Alto.

Gunn (2-6) was up for a scrappy brawl, and turned the match into a fight through the final two sets. Yet Hillsdale was keen to win most of the extended rallies, a product of Gunn committing 40 errors in the match.

The Knights’ ability to ride out long rallies is a reason they ran the table in the Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division last season in capturing the league title, hence earning a promotion to the Bay Division. With Bay play opening Thursday — Hillsdale hosts Half Moon Bay at 7 p.m. — the Knights will have to prove they can hang with teams like Burlingame, Carlmont and Menlo-Atherton that aren’t willing to beat themselves.

Crump points to one key win on Hillsdale’s non-league schedule that demonstrates his team’s chops — last Tuesday’s four-set win over reigning CIF Northern California Division II champion Sacred Heart Prep.

“We stacked up really well with them,” Crump said. “We stack up well with any team. It’s just how well they execute.”

While the Hillsdale offense executed well — exceptionally well at times, struggling to connect with its setters at others — the team’s most dangerous weapon is junior libero Nadia Barcklay. She is a digging machine, in her first season donning the libero’s jersey fulltime, but in her second full turn on the varsity circuit.

“She’s awesome,” Crump said. “She’s solid. … She has a knack for the ball. We call her our strong safety. She’s our defensive quarterback.”

And clutch situations only make her better. After letting Game 3 slip away, Hillsdale was in danger of doing the same in Game 4. Leads of 20-12 and 24-19 evaporated, and the Knights soon found themselves trailing in extra-points 25-24.

With Gunn serving set point, Hillsdale had to defend a fierce attack, with Barcklay turning a difficult dig into a sturdy pass for senior setter Marcella Jones, who connected with senior McKenna Anderson for the kill to even the score 25-25. Dean followed with a stuff block to force match point. Then on the final point, Barcklay produced another savvy dig, with junior setter Sydney Yuen getting the ball to Vanos to tool the block off the left side — game over.

Vanos with 12 match kills, and Gilbert with 11 ruled the opening three sets. Then it was Dean who stepped up in the fourth, totaling six of her match-high 14 kills in the final set.

“[Dean] is one of those players, you wait to see what game she’s going to dominate,” Crump said.

This could be said of many of the Knights’ deep arsenal of weapons. The team concept has proven key in balancing the array of young hitters though.

Take Vanos, a 6-1 outside hitter who has played volleyball since the third-grade. She’s coming off three years with the 650 Xtreme Volleyball club. She is an emotional player who energized the Knights with several sincere reactions to dramatic points in Game 2.

Yet — zero ego.

“Especially when my teammates get plays, I try to pump up the team,” Vanos said. “And it’s really fun when I do something and my team can pump me up. It’s really great.”

Vanos’ best reaction helped her Knights steady a back-and-forth second set with some serious ups through the middle for a kill and an 18-15 lead. She turned and yawped up her team, bringing a new level of excitement to the court. She went on to score three more of her six set kills from there.

After a Game 3 lead slipped away though — the Knights jumped out to a 6-0 lead, only to find themselves down in the late-going 24-20 — something had to change. That’s when the Hillsdale attack pivoted.

“When people are better than you, it’s better for the team,” Vanos said. “And when you get a play, then it’s exciting at the same time.”

After a Gunn error gave Hillsdale a side-out, Vanos delivered a service ace. Sophomore middle Alexandra Sprowls followed with a block followed by a right-side kill to tie it at 24-24. Then freshman opposite Sophia Makarewycz tooled the block to force set point.

The comeback showed the Knights’ poise under pressure. And while they couldn’t hold on to close out the match in that set, they flipped the script in Game 4, winning it by the same 27-25 score they lost by in the previous one.

“They like to test me,” Crump said of his team’s dramatics.

Not that one could tell from the levelheaded coach’s reaction. In response to the question of who won that test, him or his players, he offered an easy smile and quick answer.

“I always win,” Crump said.

Through four matches this season, that’s a fact.